Draft Betrayals, Right Side Respect, and Paddle Hot Takes with Crystal Mildwaters & Aaron Johnson

Welcome to Around the Pod, hosted at Pickle4real! 

Hosts Josh Chia and Michael Murrell are joined in the studio by Crystal Mildwaters and Aaron "AJ" Johnson for a hilarious and insightful breakdown of the Australian pickleball scene. 

In this episode: 

• NPL Draft Drama: AJ reveals how he was dropped and traded from the Opals to the Outback, and how the NPL prize-money split system actually works. 
• Origin Stories & Culture: AJ explains his Japanese middle name and transition from accounting to coaching, while Crystal shares her Filipino heritage and balancing teaching with pro play. 
• Hot Take #1 (Wooden Paddles): AJ argues that top-tier paddles hide bad technique and that he'd beat most pros if everyone played with wooden paddles. 
• Hot Take #2 (The Right-Side Architect): Crystal makes the case for why right-side players are the under-appreciated architects of every point. 

HOSTS:
Josh Chia
Michael Murrell

GUESTS:
Crystal Mildwaters
Aaron "AJ" Johnson

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

And then I got backstabbed. I was just chilling. The draft was happening. Harry Brown texts me and just go, the trade's been confirmed. Welcome to the Outback. But the Outback had the pick after Crystal. She she fully dumped me. She dropped me.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

My team and I came together and made a decision and it was the right one. Love you to death.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

This was a mistake putting them together. He's just looked at it and go, wow, she's really pretty. I've gone, that's great. Enough of that. And then my dad's going, absolutely not that guy.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hey, alright, so this is gonna ruffle some feathers. But the best person for Love Island, Pickleball Australia, is Hey guys, welcome to Around the Pod, hosted by Pickle for Real.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

I'm Josh Cheer. This is Michael Morel. Uh and joining us today, we've got Crystal Marwaters and Aaron AJ Johnson. Welcome guys. This is great for you.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Aaron Shosky Johnson.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Yeah, she knows my mid middle name.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Shosky. Yeah, Shoshke, yeah. Like, so that's my grandpa's name in Japanese. So yeah. That's the um, I can't wait to keep the Japanese air.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

This bad boy. Oh yeah. Yeah. Tell tell us a bit about yourselves before we dig right deep into your souls.

SPEAKER_04 1:10

Um, I'm a pickleball player in Australia. I live out in the bush, regional New South Wales, and I've managed to make my living out of pickleball as a coach. Um, I lose a lot of that money competing at these tournaments, but you know, it's always worth having a gander and a bit of a tax deduction. Um, besides that, I was an accountant, so this is a real big pivot in my life. And now I just do dumb things on a pickleball court, and you know, people recognise me for it. So that's just my life.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Oh, I could hear you. I could hear you every time you play.

SPEAKER_04 1:42

I am the loudest player in pickleball for the outback. Sorry, Katie. Took her spot.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Which I would say is kind of the opposite of what you'd expect from an accountant, right? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

Yeah, I had to quit because I had too much personality. Just a bit of an issue there.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

I mean, if I if you surprise someone out of the corner with the screen that you got, I think that'd have a genuine heart.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

Oh, I'd yeah, I'd send them to hospital. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Have you send anyone to hospital before, by the way? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 2:08

On the record, no. Never happened, thank goodness. Yeah, I'm a good boy.

SPEAKER_03 2:13

So tell us a bit about this uh this middle name of yours and the Japanese origins.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

Yeah, so um my dad uh is Australian, born and raised in the bush, and my mum is fully Japanese. Um when it came time to give me a name, uh, my mum was very keen on keeping the Japanese heritage there. Um and my dad also knew that uh a name like Shorske is really hard to pronounce when you read it. It's spelt S-H-O-S-U-K-E. So a lot of like Shosuki, Shorske, like it's just hard to get it right. So to ensure that it was a bit easier for my branding, Aaron was the first name in the baby book, so they did that. And to be true to my Japanese roots, they gave me the middle name, and then obviously my dad's last name in Johnson's.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

So how much anime are you watching? Do you watch it? Zero.

SPEAKER_04 3:05

I am the least Japanese-oriented person. No way, I wouldn't have ever seen only food, Japanese food, maybe a little bit of the values, but definitely not the uh creative culture, all that sort of stuff. I'm not a weeb. That's for you guys. That's not for me.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Mate, you're not even a weeb because you're literally from the Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

But I just I just can't I can't get amongster. It's just yeah, not for me.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

You can't get amongster. You were literally there like two weeks ago, man.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

No, I know, I know.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

It was great for you. You were fully amongst that.

SPEAKER_04 3:32

Yeah, I was, I was. I had a great time with Barry in Japan.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Barry little apologies. Apologies, Barry, Oliver Gray, Oliver Gray.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

What a guy the bog, notorious B O G starred a bit of a uh had a bit of a stir with your family, he did.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Oh yes, he did, but we'll get we'll get to you first. We talked about that. Setting up the next segment.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 3:54

So next to me is Crystal Mildwaters.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Hello, hello. Um, my name's Crystal Marie Mildwaters. I am a pickleball player by uh part-time, and I mean at the moment an hour a week. Uh otherwise a full-time teacher. I teach grade 10 English and I teach uh a sevens HPE. Love that, love that.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Um at us fellow teachers, I love this.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I know. Teachers, you know.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

I'm telling that you're a teacher voice right now, and I'm I'm fully engaged.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Oh, thank you. Thank you. No, I walk into a room and there's so much presence, they just miss. What are you gonna say today? So, yeah, that's me. Um, also Washing, which is why this one and I get along despite our current breakup seasons that we're going through.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Some complications. It's complicated.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

But um I I do want to address the Wasion element though. Like what are we talking? What's the mix?

SPEAKER_00 4:49

So, mum's Filipino and dad's Australian. Um, yeah, that's where the mild waters come from.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

What's what's your favourite Filipino food? One of my best mates is Filipino, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Shout out to Mum back home because she can cook up a feast. Um, bless her, she would cook up like five coarse meals for breakfast for my lovely wag at home. Shout out to you, Jake, um, who I get in trouble for. She tells me off if he asks for orange juice and he has to get it himself, there's a big problem at our house. So, yeah, that's the culture we live with. Well done, Jake.

SPEAKER_04 5:25

Locked in. Um, with a Filipino, I just love eating with my fingers. Like rice and chicken with your fingers rather than cutlery. Like I have Filipino friends when I was growing up, and we would go set up the table and I'd put out a fork and I'd get like some pretty bad looks, and it's like, no, we're eating with our fingers tonight.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

He's not a weeb, but he loves a bit of Filipino.

SPEAKER_04 5:45

Yeah, wow. Appreciate the ones around us, of course.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

I mean, right next to you. Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:52

Yeah, so she might have to cook up a Filipino feed this weekend and we might have to just nibble away.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

So chicken adoba, nice and simple.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Hello, versed. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Okay, he's a Filipino weeb.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Yeah, I think we're both. You can't wear that hat to dinner though, I'm gonna tell you.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Oh, yeah. How's the how's the hair going actually? I actually I don't think I've seen you without a hat.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

Yeah, well, I got a haircut in Japan two weeks ago for a whopping $12. And so the bloke was like 15 years old. Yeah, hair reveal. I'm just a bit worried that there's just going to be a nightmare of it from what part of the hair do they actually cut?

SPEAKER_03 6:31

This, just this. That's all they did.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

That there. And it's growing back real quick because they did a skin fade, but Asian hair grows fast and thick. So for 12 bucks, I could do that maybe weekly, and it'd be pretty nice. But in Australia, just to have that chopped off is like 50 bucks, and then we talk about women's haircuts, and then they go into the triple digits, and Crystal knows all about that.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

No, she's looking majestic.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Yeah, I know, looks great, but not something you can maintain in Australia.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Like that horse from Wish. Toby seen that movie.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Great. Wow. So I'm gonna change this up straight. Um I want to hear about this breakup. Tell me what's wonderful. I mean, you're talking about Jake, and then now you're talking about a breakup with this guy.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:18

All right, you want to well, how many teams have we been in in the last two years?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Holy breakers shout out to the breakers, big Dave Richardson.

SPEAKER_04 7:28

We're a big shout-out podcaster. Love that man.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Pull them all out. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 7:31

And the 60-year-olds heard they're great too. That's not sticking, guys. It's not sticking. Um then we then we had the Audis last year. That was a good time, commanded by Captain Harry Brown.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

That was a good time.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

That was good. And this year we um started the year as the opals, Crystal being the captain. Um, made some good draft picks, got a sneaky little Nicola Schumann as the number one pick.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Just sneaky.

SPEAKER_03 7:57

That's a sneaky sneaky one.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, no one could have picked that one. No.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

No, and then the personality high is in Hamish and myself. And look, the vibes were great. Um, were the results great? Look, questionable, but we had the shuffle draft recently, and Crystal had to make some tough decisions, much did most of the captains. You got the choice to drop two players and sack them off and bring them in with a new fresh set of players. Um from my perspective, I thought I was a little like, you know, just a little sacrifice to get dropped so that Crystal can pick up a Nick Maliganus. Is that an upgrade? Well, we're talking about I'm not sure about that one. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Nick Maliganus gets put in, and then I sneak back in on the way back. So we've got the full Wasion trio in Amen, amen to that. Crystal, myself, and Nick. And then I got backs out. Wow. I just got I was just chilling, the draft was happening. I can't even remember. I think I was coaching on court, and then Harry Brown texts me and just go, the trade's been confirmed. Welcome to the Outback. And I was excited because you know, Outback are a great team, but the Outback had the pick after Crystal. So all that went in through in my head was I just feel like she skipped me. She she fully dumped me, she dropped me. So this was a mistake putting them together.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Yeah, so I don't know if this is a mistake. This is this is crazy. Is this a podcast or couples therapy?

SPEAKER_04 9:31

Like, what are we signing up for here?

SPEAKER_00 9:33

I just want to say thank you for doing this. Is the first time we've looked at each other in the eyes since it's been tough therapy sessions?

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I've not qualified for this move.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

But I think in the lead up, like, because obviously it's a captain's decision at the end of the day, and I just told Crystal, like, I know there's emotions involved and all that, but if you need to get rid of me, there's no love lost. Like, I will survive. And quite frankly, being in regional New South Wales, it is a big expenditure of time and resources to get to these events. So if it meant that someone else that's better is in the team, that's great because it means Crystal can earn me money without me having to do a thing. That is a dream, it is a dream, and I get to enjoy a weekend at home instead of traveling around. But Harry decided to come through.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

I think you snaked Harry a bit in this yes, yes, there was a lot to this draft. Um, and I actually had, you know, the plan was set in stone. AJ was coming straight back to the opals. Um, and then two minutes beforehand, my team and my team and I came together and made a decision, and it was the right one, love you to death.

unknown 10:45

Love you to death.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

But um, yeah, Josh Barber was an absolute steal, and the opals are looking good. And I can say that because AJ still has a stake in the opals.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

Yes, the way the way it works, um, because I did the first half, I get 48% of their prize money. 48% for or say say between Josh and myself, he gets 52%, I get 48%. And likewise in the outback, I'll get that other 52%. Say Dan Fogel being the other male originally, he would have gotten the 48%.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

Yeah, that's that's a difference between a guy who reads the contracts and a guy who doesn't. I actually didn't know about this. I'm in the same spot as you.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

Yeah, so so for you with the heat, you can still win 48% of that prize money. So you need you need to be backing them to win the final. No more travel, big stake.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

That's the accountant. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Money tour.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

I mean, how is this podcast funding itself?

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Yeah, let's be honest.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

That's the best form of passive income.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

Bit bit of subtle foreshadowing for my financial benefit. We would love to see an outback versus Opal's final in MPL. All right, that guarantees ten thousand dollars for me without even worrying about who wins or who loses. It's just about whether I get to lift that trophy as an outback or as a fake Opal at the end.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

And um Would you allow him into the final bit? If you guys win, let's just say you win, hypothetically. Is this guy carrying the trophy?

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Oh, look. So it'll be, you know, the the final four in the big photo, and then of course Yeah, the Instagram will see a few extra, but of course our alley cat will come in for a few in the end.

SPEAKER_04 12:23

I think we might have to fly Hamish in the room.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

No, I was gonna ask you the question: if you're guaranteeing decent money, are you flying Hamish Batos in?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

He'd make the drive. You know, he's a big boy now, and I raised him well.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

No, the Audi.

SPEAKER_04 12:36

The sun got the Audi. He's only in South Australia, it's a short time. Making the sun drive? You dropped him, then you're making him drive.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

No, wow. Look, a bit of tough love goes a long way.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yeah, he needs the mother hen and hit that's right.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

He could also just pick out of his budget and make him fly.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

We need as you know what, it as much as I was in our back for season three and season four, the opals are just we're we're coming, we're coming in red hot. So I don't that's not even a hot take.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

No, it is I hear it a lot from Nick Mell. He says there's no way we're not winning this thing. So that's a man that's desperate for money, though. He he needs this money.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Oh, he's very frugal though, goodness me.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

Like all those all those nights out of nature don't pay for itself. Yeah, exactly. But the man's gonna have to wipe a fair few tears when he's getting half the paycheck. Half the paycheck because I've got the first half, but also because he's gonna get the lower paycheck.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Took a lot out of us um to let go of the ATP line call from last year, whether or not we're gonna go. Oh yeah, holy!

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Can you give us some context here? What does this ATP line call?

SPEAKER_04 13:45

We uh we have women's doubles first to 11. Um, I think you guys win 11-2, something comfortable. This is like Chris Crystal and Lindsay, maybe at like you know, uh Lindsay was Kincast and Crystal was like deathly sick. But anyways, they pulled it through. They won 11-2, and the way it worked was we had to carry it through to 22. And so having that 11-2 headset's great. But Harry and I had Joey Wilde and Nick Mao on the other side of us. Alright, they are great players. Those three, Harry, Nick, and Joey were a step above from me, so I was just getting picked on, and you know, things were going a little iffy, but it's about 20 all or 21-20, and Harry hits this incredible ATP. You look at the footage, this is the line, this is out, the ball is here, all right. Inside that line.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Can I guess that Nick made the call?

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Nick made that call.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

He's I still get shivers thinking.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

He loves it, doesn't he? The ref did not overall in our favor.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Can I also mention that Nick also had a hot take on the refs? The refs, yep, and it's actually won him a lot of money. Yeah, yeah. Let's just remind season up. Let's just remind Nick how much money the refs has actually made him. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Forget the personality and all that. It's all about Nick and his money. Yes, it is, it is.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Yeah, he could be in a fair bit of trouble if he and if he has a lot saved, let me tell you that.

SPEAKER_04 15:07

We we had um challenger finals last year in Sydney, and his mum and dad came, and that's all his mum talked about was how frugal he is, how much the money means to him, all that. It's not about pickleball for him.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

I mean listening to his diet alone. That makes a bit of sense, right? Like just he's just started on rice, just walnuts, yeah. Walnuts, rice, and chicken.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

A little bit of background on him. He is a professional poker player.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

He is, he does, yes. He dabbles in the I had a recent call with him, Macau, first stop, the casino gambling central anyway.

SPEAKER_04 15:40

Yeah, so we're a bit far away from Crown Casino in Melbourne, so maybe that's gonna stop him from having a stintier.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

I don't think that'll stop him. Unless he's gonna make the effort, yeah, yeah, private poker game.

SPEAKER_04 15:52

Yeah, exactly. He might figure something out. He knows how to hustle a man, that's for sure. Yeah, he does. Yeah, I um I needed a desperate for an overgrip, and the only person in front of me was Nick, and then he gives me the overgrip, I use it, I play a match, and later down track, he's like, Can you send me six bucks? I'm just gone. He just handed that to me with no, I didn't, I didn't agree to where's the contract? And then he's like, in an all-day, I'm playing matches, I'm hustling, and every time he saw me, he's like, Don't forget to transfer me that six bucks.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

And I was just like, Okay, Nick, like it's cool, dude. It's six bucks, I'll give it to you. As a big contract guy, did that murder you? Like, did it did you feel it bad?

SPEAKER_04 16:27

I felt like I didn't read the fine print there. I definitely got stitched. He gotcha, yeah, yeah. So MPL is not gonna get ya, but no, but that's Nick Malgotcha's because like uh we we have this running joke every now and then that like he owes me 28 cents. And he's like, and I'll just be like, Mickey, remember you're gonna transfer me 28 cents. Make sure you pay me that 28 cents. Are you adding interest to that 28 cents? No, I'll I might have to soon. He didn't read the fine print of that. He didn't read the fine print and he won't send me 28 cents. It's just it would probably break the city.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Sooner will build to six dollars, and you will have to ask him for six dollars, and justice will be served.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

It will be, it will be one day. But um, I'll get my six dollars off of him when we beat him in MPL. So don't say that too loudly, man. No, I'll say it with chest.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

I will say, we ever since the refs have cracked down on the chirp, like this was a cinematic match. The the matchup between Nick and Aaron is one that I was very excited for.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Yeah, which had to be censored, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

And I feel like taking your ex-boyfriend and your boyfriend and just putting them a butt hand and you just want to watch it.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

What are you doing? I was ready, and like some of the celebrations that the opals have, I mean, they're phenomenal, and we just can't whip them out at this point in time. Yeah, like this one.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

Yes, we love saying goodbye to the ball as it goes past our opponents.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Good one, or you know, no way, no way, no way out.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

So, um, the one of the most interesting things about this shuffle is that I started beef with my current teammates um because I never thought I'd end up on their team, so I was like, let's burn these bridges. Let's let's we were playing a dead rubber mix doubles, we were getting a little bit obliterated. It's a bit of a double standard that I was getting in trouble for chirping, and they were starting to chirp us. And I've gone, nah, Nicola, we need to stir the pot, we need to try and get them rolled up. I complained to the ref, I'm like, guys, I'm always in trouble, get them in trouble. The refs complied, it was great, and then Harry started grunting, and apparently grunting's not allowed, so the refs got up in for grunting, it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

And in the background, Nicola and I just silently just go like plan's going very good, and it did not go good for you.

SPEAKER_04 18:38

No, because now I have to be nice to them, and they have to be nice to you too. Yeah, I think we've gotten over it. We had a few bevies in Japan.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Talking about bevies, I noticed you brought some bevies.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

Would you like one? Would you like to?

SPEAKER_03 18:52

I would like one.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Oh, the difficulty costs.

SPEAKER_04 18:57

Would you like to go? This uh six pack. They're a fine print. This six pack cost me $20.80. I'll be looking for $3.00 from you guys. Okay. Is that add up?

SPEAKER_03 19:12

No, that doesn't matter. No, no, it's okay. It's been three dollars and we'll leave the 38 cents. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

He's actually doing pretty well. Usually on an L MPL day, this will come out during round one.

SPEAKER_04 19:23

No, so so the beers. Cheers, guys. Cheers, Crystal.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Cheers.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Crystal's not on the beers because she's actually a serious athlete. One hour a week, body.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

My body's a temple.

SPEAKER_04 19:36

Now, yes, um, this match against Nick Mao. I think last year we had a few singies matches against each other, and I got in trouble for calling him short. Um, he couldn't reach a ball, and I just said, You're not tall enough for that one, buddy. And then the ref just goes, hey, enough of that. And then he started like saying some like typical like toy, like every time he won a point and stuff like that. And you know, it was like a good, healthy competition. And at the end of the match, we were very happy.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Um can I just interject you by the fact that Nick actually, in the previous podcast, actually said his hot take was ref's not allowing people to chirp, and his chirp was pinpointing people's weaknesses. I think you've done that perfectly. Oh, yeah, he's short, of course. That's his done that perfectly, and I think that's fair game. I think Nick would have respected that.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

Yeah, he would have. And um we we always talk about gamesmanship and pickleball and like trying to create these sort of dynamics against each other. None of that happened in our singles match. It was the most quiet, most depressing match I've ever played.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Aaron Johnson and Nicholas Mal in a quiet match. I cannot imagine that.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

And I lost 8-2 because I couldn't start the gamesmanship. I'm gonna blame the gamesmanship on that because I feel like it would have been a reality 8-6 or an 8-7 if it was.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

You know those like FIFA cards when they have like all the different stats? Yeah, yeah. This guy's literally like 90 on tactical awareness.

unknown 21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Grandmaster.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Another thing that I think Nicola is very perceptive, and there was a tournament in the Gold Coast, and Nick tried to chirp me off the court while I was playing a doubles match, and everything he said, I just had a comeback, something witty just roasted him. I even did something where I pretended to feed him a little bit of bait. He took it to try and roast me, and then I had something prepared afterwards. Very economical of it. Very economical. And Nicola's watching from the side, going, Wow, Nick just got destroyed. And then when it came to the shuffle draft, probably in the back of her mind was going, Do these people actually like each other? Like, can they actually work together as a team? And Crystal was thinking about that too. It was just like, can you settle your differences? And meet people.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

And that is why Josh Barber made the team.

SPEAKER_04 21:52

And that's why Josh was in the air. And I think Crystal made the Welcome to the team, Josh Barber. Because I don't I don't have beef with many people. Nick is on the top of the list. He's number public enemy number one. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

There were even some comments throughout the season early on before Nick and I had even spoken about him becoming an opal. Thanks for keeping my seat warm, Aaron. Every time a public.

SPEAKER_03 22:19

To be honest, he actually sent me about seven of those texts. But I don't I don't know if you know this, Aaron, but the pitched idea was you were going to do the pod with Nick. And his first line was just not that guy. Yeah, I agree. Just not that guy. He didn't want you. No.

SPEAKER_04 22:37

And I can now see why. I was confused a bit. I think he's still a little scarred by the fact that I tried to pelt a ball into his chest last Saturday. We were winning 2014 or something. Something ridiculous. Unnecessary behaviour from me, but I had a ball soft enough. And I was like, nah, I'm going to launch it into him. The net saved it. Lucky man. But that's generally what the net's there for, Aaron. I watched the footage back and there was no hiding my intentions. I wanted to hit him and he saw it. You couldn't even mask it as an accident. It was just a full explosion.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Amazing. Now we'll go on to the next segment. We're looking for some pickable hot takes. Who wants to kick us off?

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Okay, you go first. You go first.

SPEAKER_04 23:26

Ladies first. Me. Yes. Beauty before the beast. Um I think I'm better than most of the good pros if we all used wooden paddles. I think their paddles are doing most of the talent for them.

unknown 23:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:42

What paddle are you using? I am on a dietem. I like my paddle. I think it's a great paddle. It really helps me. But I think a lot of these paddles that people are rocking around with maybe some special grit on them, maybe a bit hotter than maybe the ones that got approved are. I think players are getting away with some stuff. And I think also just in general, like these really good quality paddles have now negated poor technique. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

What's poor technique to you, man? There's so many techniques. I'm intrigued.

SPEAKER_04 24:12

I think I think like basic touch. Alright, um, being able to control that ball, um, get resets going. Crystal's the reset queen. You could literally hand her a block of wood and she would be able to reset that ball back into the kitchen every time. I think her form's really good. And you got some players, and you look at him like Nick Mail's counter back here. Yeah, he loves better than these ones, doesn't he? His forehand counter is so far back, but because he has a hot paddle, that ball just launches back anyways. So I think we're gonna it's the roast of Nick Mail right now.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

But I'm not partaking in this, Nick, if you're listening as your captain. Love what you do, keep doing it.

SPEAKER_04 24:53

Real politician, yeah. Yeah, very diplomatic. Um, but yeah, I think there's a lot of players that maybe if they if we leveled the playing field, everyone had to play for very simple paddle, you'd see some big leaks in their game and see what they do.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Who do you think would would rise up? Who would rise up other than yourself?

SPEAKER_04 25:12

Yeah, of course, of course. Um, I actually would like to say uh Lucas Pasco holds his ground there. Yeah, I think Andy Dico hits clean as. I think Izzy Papa's young. She stays up there. Um hot take. I think Jespy. Jespy holds form, he holds form. Uh and Connor, Connor Robertshaw. I think he plays very pure. That guy is pure talent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:37

Some people I'm a big fan of Connor Robertshaw's game, by the way.

SPEAKER_04 25:40

Some people that would uh crumble, my boy Ollie Gray. That forehand forehand maybe.

SPEAKER_03 25:46

Wait, what's got what was the whole thing with the uh little beef with the family?

SPEAKER_04 25:51

Oh well, first of all, his forehand technique sucks. Um just putting it out there on the record. That was the beef with the family, yeah, and um as a role as a result of that, we had uh um my grandpa's 85th birthday in Japan. He came, he came along, uh wonderful lunch. Uh we had some 12 course tofu based um lunch, and then he met my uh extended family, including my uh cousin Hina. Um she's 23, so a bit older than Barry.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

I don't like where this is going to be.

SPEAKER_04 26:21

And he he's just looked at her and go, wow, she's really pretty. I've gone, that's great, enough of that. And he's realized that I've found he's that's a little soft spot for me because I'm I don't have a sister, I have a brother, so I've never really had that protection sort of vibe. And he just started poking the bear a bit, and all trip he's just talking, just like, oh you're cousin's really pretty. Can I take her out on a date? I'm like, Barry, you need to stop this right now.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

I'm gonna tell him about the FaceTime with dad.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

The FaceTime with dad. I've just like having it like has he had a FaceTime with your dad after the show. Yeah, so at that no, at that dinner, at that lunch, sorry. Um, my parents are back home in Australia, so we put him put him on a video call and they've seen um Ollie. So my parents have met Ollie over the phone and whatnot, and then I relayed the message to my dad. I'm like, Dad, I think he's I think he's gonna make a move, and then my dad's gonna absolutely not, not that guy. And so the Johnson family, we got we got beef with Ollie right now. He's a lovely kid, he has to stay in Australia. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

But that's fine because so what are you gonna say to him if he says, Hey man, I'm I'm actually moving to Japan.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

Well, the biggest problem is he knows now that if he needs to beat me in pickleball, a bit of gamesmanship there would be to use that as leverage against me. And he knows how rolled up I get about it, so he knows I'm very ropeable, and so yeah, I told Crystal this beef maybe yesterday or today, and I was just like, I need to get this out of my head or else he will be there.

SPEAKER_03 27:53

Yeah, yeah, look.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

Cousin, look. There's a lot of lays to you, A. Jeez, Crystal's the mastermind behind this, she's formulated this, she's fabricated this whole situation. She's just like, I'm a puppet, and she's got the strings. She's just playing around with me and I'm just smiley puppet over here. What's your hot take, smiley puppet?

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Okay, alright, so this is gonna ruffle some feathers, but the right side is the most important side, and you heard it here first.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

I'm a right side, you're gonna back there, you put it there. So let's go. Right side, we go, right side, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Uh yeah, so the right side to me is neglected. It's um not credited enough. It's a skill in itself. I consider the right side the architect of the point. I mean, yes, if we're talking NBA, it would be the assist. But you know, Scottie Barnes is the best defensive player in the league, but he would not be there. Wow, this is ball knowledge. I'd tell you humanity. Crystal is pure ball knowledge. Holly big Raptors fan. Um, PS, if we get Damar and Kawhi back home. I'm going off topic, but wow's it. Yes, I'm getting high palpitations thinking about that. Anyway, yeah, that's my hot take is the left is not that important if you don't, if you don't have a good right side player.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

There's a lot of egos on the left side as well. Yeah. And there's a lot of humble, humble players on the right, I reckon. Look at us. We're just a humble, humble podcast, humble group. But yeah, it's it's a underappreciated role because half the time when I play right side with Harry, my job is to get out of the way. So I don't, it's not in the tough task. It's it's a tough no, but a lot of a lot of it's a big roll. A lot of bad right side players try and get involved when they don't need to, and they try and barge in. I've seen a lot of paddle clashes in the middle, but if you just stay out of the way and let them work their magic, and when they screw up, you just clean that ball back up, put it back into play, reset it back to something slow and manageable, then your job's done. And I agree. And people think, oh, but they're winning all the points, you're just this kind of dead weight, empty space.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

I'm like, I mean, if you put it that way, then it kind of sounds like it, no.

SPEAKER_04 30:08

Nah.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

I mean, we we also clean up their shit, pardon my French, but but yeah, we do the technically what happens they're hitting more balls, it's more likely they're gonna screw it up. Yeah, so yeah. I mean, I I do like to take it out of the middle too.

SPEAKER_04 30:21

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

There's progressive right siders. Yeah, I know how to I know how to defend. Give me a good give me a wooden block.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Okay, thank you, Scotty Barnes.

SPEAKER_03 30:31

Yeah, no worries. I I honestly thought you were gonna say John Stockton or something, like a little bit more niche. No, big raptors isn't.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

No, and like Kawhi to me is not even a real raptor. That's my other hot take.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Oh, that's oh damn.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Yeah, but he got us a ring, and then he so Carl Lowry, the greatest raptor of all time. Him and DeMar DeRosen are my wallpaper for school for my school laptop. My kids see them every day.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

So AJ, no, not AJ, but Nick, let's say Nick. Nick wins a MPL champ with the opals, but then next season he goes to the Outback or something. Is he a true opal?

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Let's just knock on wood there. That's my homeboy we're talking about. He's an opal for life.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

I mean, it's the same thing, really, if we talk about it that way.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

He's an opal for life, that boy.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

So Kawhi's an opal for life. Uh no. Kawhi's a raptor for life.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

We can have this debate, Chia. We can have this debate.

SPEAKER_04 31:27

Yeah, we might have to settle this in the car park.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

No.

SPEAKER_04 31:31

That's where I least wanted to go. I remember a segment you did for a little rage bait video where Crystal's ready for the octagon. Yeah, shh.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:39

I'm actually genuinely scared of Chris.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

You really stitched me up there. Like, truly, to not say anything in that moment, Chia, that I had it wrong. Yeah, that I felt really stitched up by that. I felt obliged to repost it.

SPEAKER_04 31:57

Your public embarrassment.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

My kids, some of my grade tens know about the cheer pickleball account.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

I'm popular in time. I mean, my every demographic. They probably funded my page, to be honest. Ooh. Yeah, so now I'm reaching not only Victoria, but Queensland.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

That's right. That's right. Yeah. Just through the schools. Yeah. I do take boxing classes. I have a PT that does some boxing with me in not the octagon anymore. We've um we've progressed too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

So hey, this is all growth. What on, Crystal? What aren't you? Growth mindset. What a teacher you are. Thank you. And on that note, let's um let's move on to the last segment. Now I don't know if this is a growth segment. It's not a growth segment. This is this is possibly a regressive segment. We we've started a little thing about um Love Island pickleball Australia style. And we're gonna we're gonna get you two to draft two guys and two girls each. Now, Michael and I have done this previously, so we're gonna sit out and let you two just run the show here.

SPEAKER_04 33:17

Can can I just give a hot take about life? I don't watch TV.

SPEAKER_03 33:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

Alright. Uh I just don't have the time. I actually don't have a TV at my house. Um we're we're freshly um furnishing the place, and we're gonna buy a projector, but I'm strictly like YouTube, TikTok, other like short form media. Don't know what entails Love Island.

SPEAKER_03 33:40

Honestly, I don't, but I'm here for the plot, so let's do it. Kristen, do you have a clue what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 33:46

I do, I do. Shameless.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Yeah, you know, tell us Love Island fam. Now, as Nick Mal in the previous segment told us that a good person's a narcissist. Do you agree with that?

SPEAKER_00 33:58

For Love Island? Oh, you've got your angels in there, you've got your sweethearts.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Yeah, so we're picking some angels and sweethearts.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

I've got the person, I've got just the right person. Um like you've seen it. Or number one draft pick, you'll go holy moly.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Like I mean, you've gone through the midseason draft. You've gone through the draft. Let's do a draft for me. Maybe you two go one each. Yeah, yeah. Let's go. All right, you go first.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Okay, just for the record, Jake, I love you. Um, but the best person for Love Island, pickleball Australia, is Seaborm.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Wow, wow, wow. And a true pickleball Victoria guy.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

I love that man. I built my entire game upon Batman, saw him today, and his shorts are still shorter than ever.

SPEAKER_04 34:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:45

I've not seen more leg in a man than Chris Bourne. The guy loves P3 Recovery too, by the way. She has P3 Recovery.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

And and yet he taught us to, you know, activate, get the muscles activated, do your activations. So yeah, he he comes to mind.

SPEAKER_04 35:02

He's got those piercing blue eyes as well. I think that'd be good for TV. Model. Yeah, model. Yeah, he does modeling. Yeah, yeah. Those short shorts will go well on an island.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 35:11

Okay. So with this draft, I guess because you got first week, do I get the next two and then you get the two out of the house? And PLCs. So in true draft fashion, you do need the ladies first. Alright. There's not as much depth than the ladies in pickleball. Alright. Maybe there's better depth than the ladies when it comes to Love Island, though.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Oh, I can't. Just really quick. I reckon because they're competing on this, we've got to pick the winners. Okay. Okay. We're going to pick the winning team. Who gets the best team? Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:41

We're going to pick the winning team. We're going to pick the winning team. Okay. I'm going to throw out my girls Taya Cross and Millie Smythe.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

Taya Cross is a second to oh, did she make No she didn't make the Welcome Taylor Cross to the party. Welcome Taylor Taya Cross to the island.

SPEAKER_04 36:00

I think Taya Taya's body language gives away everything. So like if you're not vibing, if she's not vibing with you on the island, however it works, I feel like she'll make it known.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

I feel like we need that. No bullshit. Just tell us how it is. Yeah. Nice.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

I think Millie coming in are definitely the international pick. Alrighty, fresh perspective.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

This ain't MLP, man. We don't have international pick.

SPEAKER_04 36:25

I feel like it's important that we we get some.

SPEAKER_03 36:27

We're going into an island, mate. We're going over waters. So this overwater bombshell.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

You bring in international and they're the bombshell.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

Yeah, so Millie's the bombshell. Thanks so much. Congratulations, Millie.

SPEAKER_04 36:39

You are the bombshell. Alright, so back to you. You got two picks.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Okay. All right. So no, I've got I've got one.

SPEAKER_04 36:46

No, you got no you get two because we we alternate, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Okay. Uh, do you know how to do a draft?

SPEAKER_03 36:52

I mean, she dropped two, mate. So I'm really questioning it right now.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

Okay, I'm gonna go Kirsty McDinkendale.

SPEAKER_03 37:01

Oh wow. That's big. Big a big friend of AJ, by the way. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:06

Mixed Davels partner. She's just throwing your bit one of your best mates in the mix.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 37:11

Yeah, that's fine. I think I think it's perfect for her.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

Yeah. Big red.

SPEAKER_04 37:14

Nice. Yeah, big personality, big vibes.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

You know, loves her ice skating, um, has an interest in the niche sport of ice hockey. Recently joined um joined the WA Club, brought her own little WAL.

SPEAKER_04 37:29

Congratulations, Kirby. They're hard launched, so it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Yeah, yeah, always well there.

SPEAKER_04 37:33

Yeah. He's actually gonna be wagging this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Oh, bang.

SPEAKER_04 37:38

Yeah. Oh yeah, you'll get to meet him. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

Oh, consider Josh's fancy tickle. Consider his ducks in a row.

SPEAKER_04 37:48

Oh my god. His timbers are shivered.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Oh this is the kind of chat that we have on the on the bench.

SPEAKER_04 37:58

So Kirsty. Alright, so you've got a guy and a girl.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

And then you've got another one. I'm gonna throw in my other big red, Lindsay Baker.

SPEAKER_04 38:05

Oh damn.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

She is a straight shooter.

SPEAKER_04 38:08

Dynamic duo. We've got a few straight shooters now. Dave Carlson and Lindsay Baker.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

Yep. Yes. Oh, Dave Richardson sent the group chat a video the other day of her arcing up to someone and chest out.

SPEAKER_04 38:19

We need a bit of Dave Dave has this archive of pickleball beef, and it is great.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Wait, so she just puffed the chest out at someone in pickleball, or yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:28

But um it was it was a bit of bit a bit of smack talk before the refs were intervening.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

Wait, so Lindsay was involved in SmackTalk. Oh yeah. There's a common trend on Smack Talk and refs intervening and not letting personality go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:42

Well, this this was circa like 2024, I believe, or 20, maybe early 2025.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

But that's a long time in pickleball.

SPEAKER_04 38:49

It is, it is before you know I refs really caught on about what we were actually scheming with our chirps. But yeah, I think that's great. Those two played together in the APC and beat some big names and came third. So I think they would probably work well together on the island.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

I love how you're just telling us how good our picks are, man. How good are your picks gonna be?

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Alright, well, I've got my two ladies. Just because Lindsay Baker's in the mix, I think I have to put in Nick Mal.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

You've got an obsession with him tonight.

SPEAKER_04 39:22

Gonna throw it out there.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Is this a Nick Mal episode? We might just need to put him in the back corner over there.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

Hey. Um there there was a little phase there. So Lindsay was on our team for the Outback and social media. We started, you know, getting in touch and whatnot. And she was she was posting, and Nick Mal just comment on most of it. I'm like, maybe we need to test the waters there. See see if there's really anything going on in that field. Um, so Nick Mal has to go in and true to the rangers, I think this is your final pick, by the way. You're really good to this. I think bottom draft pick, a little bit of a curveball. JT, Jason Taylor. Alright, we've got Chris Baum in there. Man who's overseas right now. Is that an international pick? No, you know, he's he's local. He's he's from my neck of the woods in in New South Wales. I think him him and Chris Baum on an island sounds like chaos. I mean, they are really good mates. They are really good mates, they do the same thing. Channeling the energy from the sun with their feet on like toes caught up in the grass, like with those digital eyes of Baum. You're gonna you're gonna see some rowdy stuff from the pair. So I think I have to close it off with Jason Taylor there. That's a good pick. That's a really good pick.

SPEAKER_03 40:41

One last guy. Oh, isn't it one last guy? Yeah, because close off the dragon. Okay. Oh, I I hope you pick this guy. There's someone locked in my brain.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

Just off the record, who do you think?

SPEAKER_03 40:53

No, no, tell me, tell me, I'll tell you after.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

This is such a big moment. Okay, I'm gonna go. My aura farming king, Hamish Batos.

SPEAKER_03 41:07

That was the one. You knew it!

SPEAKER_00 41:09

You knew it was the Adelaide King. That man, as you know, he just has this walk. It's so bow-legged and like shout out, Bartos. I really, really just don't get involved in drama. But he he doesn't either, but it just follows him.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

Yeah, and I just he just he's a he's a womanizer too. So you're telling me this is recent, careful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But like what I'm saying is whatever he touches turns into gold. Like, these women just fall for him. Left, right, and centre. Yeah, he lips together.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Actually, as his as his mother hen gave him really good advice, and I think it really paid off. He loves it. Um, so I he we were having a real deep DM, as as deep as conversations with Batos can go, um, which isn't very deep at all.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Pretty shallow waters right there.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

That's the kiddie pool, really. Um, but this was in our comm in Melbourne, November last year, and I told him, and he was really upset about his breakup, and I said, you know what, Hamish, just keep kissing as many frogs as you can, because one day you're gonna kiss your princess. You'll find your princess, and he takes that one with him. He lives by that prince. He's gonna take him to the grave.

SPEAKER_02 42:28

Did your mum tell you that? I don't think so. I don't think my mum told me that either.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Yeah, he's taken that one to the grave now. So he and it he's found his princess.

SPEAKER_04 42:38

He has found his princess, he's done well. Um, in the lead up to that, he lived with me for five weeks, and every time we would go out on a night to get dinner or get some drinks or whatnot, no matter who it was, it'd be a woman or two that would look at him and go, You're very attractive. I'd like to spend some time with you, I would like to get to know you. He does have that attractiveness. He does, he just does. And it doesn't matter what he's doing, he could simply be putting rubbish in the bin. It would be appealing to these women. He just had that charm about him. Some call it aura. Yeah, and that's the thing, it is the aura of Hamish Bardos. But I think yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

It's my aura farming son.

SPEAKER_04 43:16

They might be fighting for Hamish on that island, even the guys.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

That's a really good final pick. How did you how did he sneak in as a final pick?

SPEAKER_00 43:24

I'm telling you, I've nailed the drafts this year. For legal reasons, anyone that knows me knows I really do start out of drama. So this is a yep, but it's a tough one.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

I know. It is tough.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

So are we talking two separate islands, or are we talking everyone's on the other side? No, chuck them all in there together.

SPEAKER_04 43:46

For sure. Make it chaotic because like Chris Bourne doesn't be Chris Bourne without JT. Obviously, the Wrangers, the Rangers are the Wrangers. I mean, that's the dynamic you were in there.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Chris was gone really just civil, I thought. That's that's my Take on it? Pretty civil.

SPEAKER_04 44:02

I think I've just synergized from Crystal's picks. I think I'm just piggybacking off of her genius. But the Hamish Baltos pick is just a huge one.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Yeah, that's a big one.

SPEAKER_04 44:11

And she saved it till last, so I couldn't try and manipulate my picks around it. She's done with it.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Just the mind games.

SPEAKER_04 44:18

Yeah. Well, this is what a draft does. Like, we we've gone through the motions with the draft, conversing with other captains, scoping the field out. Yeah, it is a game of bluffing.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Oh, I feel like I'm really screwing Nick over here. I've heard a lot of stories here. And I'm I'm gonna say that that pick has not saved you.

SPEAKER_04 44:39

No, that's fine.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

It has not saved you.

SPEAKER_04 44:41

Honestly, if we're bad mouthing Nick Mail, that's fine with me. I'm actually gonna go with Crystal. I think Crystal's. Yeah, well done. I'll give you that. Well done.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

Congratulations, Crystal. I'm not even sorry, Nick. Sorry, man.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

I love Nick Mann.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Actually, no, I'm not sorry. No, no, not sorry. Not sorry at all.

SPEAKER_04 44:55

No. Um, a lot of action this weekend. I think if the draw goes right for myself, I think it's another Nick Mail clash in the men's doubles. What round are we talking? We're talking semi-finals. We're talking deep in the draw. There's there's a lot of hurdles. There's this casual hurdle called Harry Brown and Lucas Pasco in there beforehand.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

What are you gonna chirp Harry Brown again and hope he's gonna be?

SPEAKER_04 45:17

See, this is this is this is an issue for me because this is a separate event. We're not teammates in this event. I think there are no restraints, it should be just free game. Yeah. I will be abusing Harry this weekend if we get the chance. We have a few solid matches to get there, but if we get Harry Brown and Lucas Pasco, I will be saying some things in Japanese to Lucas so the refs can't get involved, and I'll be saying things to Harry probably on the sly to try and get under his skin.

SPEAKER_03 45:46

I never got to this, but how good are you at Japanese? Like speaking in Japanese.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

So you know broken English around here. I am the equivalent of that in Japan. So there's uh a lot of dialects, and I learnt a dialect called Kanse Ben, which is uh talk or in Australian terms, bogan talk. So very informal, very like casual. If I wanted a job in Japan, I'd actually have to relearn the language to learn how to speak formally and respectfully to people. You know what?

SPEAKER_03 46:18

That does fit the bill though.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

It does fit the bill, and then I run around this 26-year-old idiot that doesn't look too Japanese in Japan, and they're like, Oh, your Japanese is so good. I'm like, oh yeah, I'm Japanese. I learned can't say better. They're like, oh.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

You impressed them for like half a second or something.

SPEAKER_04 46:32

He's like, You're doing so good. You gotta change that. So yeah. No, it's um, it's good. Um, Lucas and I can converse in Japanese. There's a few Japanese people, half Japanese people in the pickleball scene. There's Daiki Tanabe.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Um there's my pick, my pick for Love Island. Oh, what a guy.

SPEAKER_04 46:50

He cannot speak Japanese. Yeah, like so.

SPEAKER_03 46:53

You're telling me a guy with the name of Aaron Johnson can speak Japanese, but a guy with the name of Daiki Tanabe can't speak Japanese.

SPEAKER_04 46:59

Exactly. Yeah, I'm gonna call him out. Um, there's like uh Takara Inuke, another ja uh player from Sydney. Um, Liam Lamb, Victorian local. I think Liam's fluent enough. I don't want to put him on a pedestal or roast him because I don't know the facts, but I have conversed lightly with him in Japanese, and you know, he speaks proper. So yeah, he's good. But there's a community of us that are Japanese, and there's a few Japanese players that actually came over to play this tournament on this weekend. So yeah, so it'll be interesting. Tomorrow, tomorrow converse with them and Crystal Crystal scoped him out by demolishing one in singles today, so we'll just have to thanks guys make some friends with them tomorrow. Yeah, wow. But there's not many Filipinos a bit bull here, are there?

SPEAKER_00 47:50

No, just you just you know, the one, yeah, the one and only.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

Yeah, I actually I actually thought Nick Mal was Filipino for a bit.

SPEAKER_04 47:57

No, he's Greek Greek Malaysian.

SPEAKER_03 47:58

I know, but like the Maliganized last name kind of sounds Spanish.

SPEAKER_04 48:03

Yeah, okay, yeah, and then the Filipinos are from a Spanish descent. Yep, yeah, fair enough. Yeah, I forgot he was Malaysian, but he's got that big neck. That's not Filipino.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

What is that even meant to mean, man? You what you see him. I'm Singaporean, that's like kind of half Malaysian. I don't have a big neck, man.

SPEAKER_04 48:19

No, but that that man is all traps. Like whether whether he fabricated it through gym or whether genetics.

SPEAKER_03 48:25

I've actually heard it's through performance-enhancing drugs. Okay, I can't. Which he has a lot of pills at home. Yeah, true, true.

SPEAKER_04 48:32

Especially fiber. I feel like we're missing something here. But um, that was also another chirp I used to use. Uh, was if I tagged him, I'd say that he was a big target because he had a huge neck. So um didn't call him draft, did you? No, no, no, it's not long, it's just wide. Like a bit one. Yeah, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

So I think he's a rugby player, big neck on the field. Yeah, yeah. But he's a short guy, though.

SPEAKER_04 49:00

Yeah, but I feel like he could still drop me. I'm I'm a bit taller, not as not as muscly. I feel like I'd just tip tip pretty easy. He'd get down to my legs quite well. He's already there, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

He seems to be already here because this whole episode's been about Nicholas.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

No, unfortunately. Yeah, a lot of people think that he lives rent-free in my head. He he does. And I'm happy to admit that because it's so satisfying when we get these like interactions between each other, we start roasting each other.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

It's going through his phone just before.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

More papers.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

No, in his recently searched on Instagram, just Nick MellPB. Wow!

SPEAKER_04 49:45

Um no, Harry, Harry G'd me up for a bit there because he knew we were versing Nick next uh last week. He's gone, I've got a really good chirp for you, but I can't tell you just yet. I need to tell you the day before. It was it was nothing, but the fact that he told me that it fired me up for those weeks leading up to our matches, and yeah, so they know they know that Nick's Nick's got a soft spot in my heart. Or maybe just a pure flame.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

He doesn't have a soft spot in your heart, man. He's got he's got rent-free land in your hand, man.

SPEAKER_02 50:15

Which makes sense because he's so frugal.

SPEAKER_03 50:19

I like that. That's dick. All right, amazing. Thank you so much. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us.